The impact of internal communication on individual empowerment: Findings of a representative employee survey in Germany

Gehrau, V.; Lührmann, J.; Stehle, H.; Röttger, U.

Abstract

In times of turbulence and uncertainty, internal communication management is an important means of demonstrating accountability to employees and supporting their empowerment, thus contributing to organizational success. Employee empowerment has numerous positive effects on employee attitudes, emotions, and behaviors, making it a relevant workplace and internal communication goal, especially in challenging times – and it seems to be influenced by internal communication. However, few studies have explored the influence of internal communication on employee empowerment. Therefore, this article examines how empowerment can be influenced by executive and peer-to-peer communication as two important domains which internal communication management needs to consider and manage. The article presents the results of a representative online survey among non-executive employees in German companies with at least 50 employees (n = 606). The findings show that the quality of both executive and peer-to-peer communication strongly supports empowerment, while the quantity of executive communication can hinder perceptions of integration and autonomy as empowerment components. This article adds to the previously limited knowledge about the impacts of executive and peer-to-peer communication on empowerment, and discusses implications regarding the theoretical analysis, empirical analysis, and practice of internal communication management.